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Chapter 44: It's just a dirty sewer….

[—NTLS—]

The next day…

"When exactly is the coronation?" Naruto asked confusedly.

Jiraiya winced. "It's a bit complicated. A few delays have happened because of the clan elders throwing a fit, but it should happen within a day or two."

Naruto's eyebrows both raised. "Is everything fine?"

He waved off his worries. "Eh. Just old men doing old men things. Not a worry, if I'm being honest. Just a hassle to deal with. It's a good thing sensei took his time with retiring—if he wasn't there to speak…there would've been a much different response to the decision."

"They aren't accepting Tsunade?"

"No, in fact, they're happy she's there," Jiraiya said with a smile. "They have a new person to sink their classes into, someone who isn't a seasoned veteran in the world of politics. Though I believe they will find that this prey isn't as weak as they think they are."

Hmph. That sounds about right.

"So, why did we meet here today?" Naruto asked.

"Didn't you want to know about the Akatsuki?"

His eyes lit up. "YES! I mean, ah, sure."

He was going to ask about that eventually, but the chance of Jiraiya not sticking to the deal of the bet was already high. Naruto was simply going to pester the old pervert until he would have relented, using his relentless persistence and determination to annoy people older than him.

"So, what do you want to know?" Jiraiya asked, crossing his arms.

"Hmm…why do they want the Jinchuuriki?"

"I don't know. The only conclusion we can come to is that it has to be a massive problem with how much chakra it would take."

Great. Anyone could have guessed that.

"How many members do they have?"

"Six have been sighted so far."

The unsaid 'but there are more' was heard by Naruto, who continued with another question. "Who is their leader?"

"We don't know."

Naruto was slowly starting to realize that he was set up. "You don't know much, do you?"

Jiraiya unabashedly nodded. "The Akatsuki are new, from what we can tell, and a highly secretive organization. I gave you this opportunity because, to be frank, I never expected you to learn the Rasengan that quickly, even if it is a different version of it. However, I am a man of my word. I'll continue to answer any questions you have about the Akatsuki as long as they exist, unless, of course, they happen to somehow dampen my process or put lives at stake."

"Fine, I guess…. I'll ask you more questions when I think of something to ask. What's the other reason you brought me here?"

He had found Jiraiya on his first porch, giggling softly into a bright green book he was writing on. It was more than creepy, hearing the laughter of an old man outside of your house, but Naruto was used to the weird things happening in his life. He had then promptly shut the door on Jiraiya after peeking through it to check who it was. The betrayed look on his master's face was more than worth it.

Of course, you couldn't avoid the man forever. Naruto was quickly roped into a 'training session' with the eccentric shinobi, saying there were two things for him to address that day.

"The Nine-Tailed Fox," Jiraiya stated, his voice becoming more serious. "Have you ever spoken to it?"

Naruto shook his head in denial. "Nope."

"Well, we have to change that, won't we?" His sensei said, smirking. "While the fox may be a raging mass of destruction, it's still sealed within you. We might as well make the best of the situation while we still can."

He nodded in understanding. "Fair enough. How do I meet the fox, anyways?"

Jiraiya hummed thoughtfully. "Truth be told, I was thinking of putting you through a life-threatening situation to somehow force you to utilize the Nine-Tails' chakra, but I'm not sure whether that would work with you or not."

"What?!" Naruto shouted, hearing the words 'life-threatening' and having his senses go into overtime.

"Ehh…nothing too bad. I might have thrown you into a particularly deep cliff with a few spikes here and there. You'd survive…I think. Anyways," Jiraiya said, clapping his hands together. "There's a much better option."

"Which is?" Naruto asked curiously, eager to ignore the careless words of his sensei. He wasn't sure whether or not the man was being serious, and a part of him didn't want to know.

"Meditation, of course," Jiraiya said as a matter of fact, as if it was some sort of common answer.

"Meditation?" Naruto repeated, already skeptical of what he was hearing.

"Well, there's a few more steps to it, but that's pretty much the basics. What I want you to do is remain completely still while flaring out your chakra continuously. For a normal person, letting your chakra out without any use would take five or so minutes to run out. With you, however, it would take more than an hour. So, I want you to do the exercise with a bunch of other clones."

Naruto tilted his head to the side with an inquisitive gaze. "Why am I keeping my chakra outside?"

They were taught from the early years of the Academy that chakra usage was always supposed to be carefully maintained, and acts such as the 'flaring' of chakra, where one just pushed all of the chakra out of their body and into the environment was the last thing they should do. Except in certain cases; for example, purposefully trying to get attention as a decoy while facing an enemy sensor.

"You have two chakra systems in your body, and I don't need to be a Hyūga to be sure about it. The Kyuubi and Naruto Uzumaki. It is also the reason why your chakra control won't be perfected until you get used to both systems. Right now, you only know how to channel your own chakra, and you've made it muscle memory to do so. Trying to instantly grab onto the chakra of the Nine-Tails would be near impossible at the moment unless the Tailed Beast willingly gives it. However, when you're low on chakra, your other source of energy would be much easier to attain. I want you to focus on the chakra while meditating in an attempt to meet the fox.

"Sounds complicated, but I think I got it. Make a shit ton of clones, meditate, and try to connect with the Nine-Tailed Fox…got it. Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Fifty or so clones appeared around him in the bright green field they were in. Jiraiya watched with a slight amount of awe and a small amount of envy at the amount of chakra the boy before him casually wielded. It never ceases to surprise me with how easy some of these chakra-extensive techniques are for him.

Naruto looked at the rest of his clones with his hands resting on his hips. "Alright, soldiers! I want everyone to start the meditation process while throwing out as much chakra as they can. The sooner we get to the goal, the better! Let's show the fox who's the boss around here!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Naruto Uzumaki for the win!"

"Woohoo!"

Naruto brought a finger to his lips, bringing the constant rumblings to a still silence. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but we're here for some meditation. That means silence and all of that other stuff. Get to work!"

One of his clones raised their hand. "Hey boss, how about a short spar before we begin the mediation, you know, just to tire out the body a bit?"

Naruto hummed. "That's…not a bad idea. How many clones could I take in a fight? I'll obviously activate iron clones to make it somewhat fairer. How about ten of you for now?"

I can probably take more but I'm more interested in just getting somewhat more tired right now before I meditate. Naruto reasoned with himself. There's no need to take it completely seriously.

Ten clones eagerly volunteered to fight, happy to do something while the others watched while doing nothing.

Naruto faced off his clones with his arms crossed, a wide smile on his face. "Now…this shouldn't be too difficult."

Activate Iron Clones!

[Activating…]

[Skill: Iron Clones- Lvl 1 Activated!]

[Usage takes 7 MP and lasts for one minute before a skill cooldown of ten minutes applies.]

The clones rushed forward together, showing cohesion in their movements as they silently paced across the ten or so meter distance between them and their original.

I might as well activate Iron Touch at the same time…

Activate Iron Touch!

He swiped away the notification message with a flick of a finger, not wanting to divert his attention for even a second. Naruto was especially focused on this fight mainly because he didn't want to lose face in front of his clones. What kind of summoner couldn't defeat their own clones? That was the number one rule of duplicating yourself, never let your duplicate be superior to you.

Should I activate a Taijutsu style?

Naruto shook his head. "Fuck no…let's do it the Uzumaki way."

He dodged the flying high kick from the first clone, who zoomed past him as a blur. The next two came together, flanking him from both sides. However, they didn't attack at the same time, making it easy to prioritize a target—which would be the faster one. Naruto parried a wild haymaker with his palm, making sure to stick his feet into the ground to prevent himself from moving even an inch. He converted his hold on the clone's fist and pushed the doppelgänger to the side, allowing him to take the brunt of the force of clone number three who was eagerly launching a hook to Naruto's liver.

Clone 2 groaned in pain but didn't disappear due to the effect of the Iron skill that was currently active.

Naruto made to kick the other clone into the ground but was interrupted by a shuriken that flew straight for his chest. He twisted to the side, dodging the projectile before somersaulting backwards to evade a kunai which was released merely a moment later.

He groaned as he eyed the advancing clones. Fuck…this is tougher than I thought.

Naruto motioned through some hand signs. "Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"

A churning ball of fire grew from his chest and escaped into the living world with a roar of rage. The clones weren't simply going to watch the destructive flames raze through their ranks, however, and responded with their one jutsus. Three streams of water interrupted the flaming ball with immense pressure, stopping the fireball in its track as a collision of elements occurred. Steam erupted in the middle, covering the plains of green with the smoky, white gas that blocked their vision.

Better for me.

He took a quick glance at Jiraiya, who was not only looking the other way but was dead asleep while snoring into a thick book that lay over his head and eyes.

This should be fine.

Activate shadow walk!

[Shadow Walk Lvl 1 Activated!]

[Move between shadows anywhere in your sight at great speeds. The amount of MP used depends on the distance traveled.]

His body felt as if it lost all weight entirely, sinking into itself before finally coalescing into the shadow that stood beneath him. His senses extended outward and towards the clones which desperately moved away from the smoke.

Too slow.

A blob of darkness zoomed forward and towards the shadow of one of his more isolated clones which had a dumbfounded expression on its face as it tried to find out what was going on. Naruto let go of his technique without another pause, resisting against the pull of his own shadow which refused to let him go without a fight.

Naruto pushed lightning chakra into a kunai that twirled in his hand, before dumping it straight into the back of one of his clones. The kunai went through with a struggle, fighting against the iron attribute of his clones, but in the end the sheer force that Naruto pushed forward with was enough.

"One down."

Activate shadow walk.

One of the clones, hearing the noise, immediately issued a warning. "HE'S HERE! BE CAREFUL OF HIS TECHN—"

Naruto plunged a kunai into the neck of the clone that was screaming, ending his misery with a poof.

"Two down."

Three clones in the vicinity immediately rushed toward him, grouped together a bit too close for their liking but couldn't do much about it as each of them were enslaved to the fear and urgency running through their bodies.

Naruto, however, was going to eagerly abuse it.

Black Flash!

Black lightning took over his vision as red sparks enveloped his fist.

The second his fist struck true with the first of the three clones they broke into a mass of smoke, never to be seen again.

"Five down."

Naruto's eyes were dilated as his pupils quickly darted around to the side here and there. His senses were on overdrive, pushed to their maximum capacity.

I'm in the zone!

That's when a hand broke out from underneath him and pulled on his feet, trapping his legs in the rough dirt. What? It was a trap. The clones had coordinated to somehow bring him over here where one of them remained hidden. I should have noticed that their number was less…shit.

The clones began celebrating already, however.

"WE GOT HIM!"

"YES!"

"WE DID IT!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're forgetting something really important here."

Activate shadow walk!

Naruto disappeared into the massless form of a shadow, escaping his confines before reappearing to the side in his usual form. He noticed with some discomfort that leaving the clutches of the shadows was harder every consecutive time he used the technique, but decided not to touch upon that issue for now.

He covered his hand with chakra before punching through the ground and piercing into the hidden beneath him.

"Six down."

Naruto walked forward, eagerness in his eyes to finish off the fight.

"Eh…I give up," one of the clones mentioned off-handedly.

"What?!" Another clone bellowed as he broke out of his fighting stance just to yell. "We still have a chance!"

"No, we don't. Our main plan, which managed to somehow work, was broken in an instant with his bullshit skill. I lost interest anyways."

"That doesn't mean you have to leave the rest of us to the wolves!" Another clone shouted.

"He's barely trying! He hasn't even used any of the Taijutsu styles yet!"

Naruto just blinked his eyes as he watched the ongoing argument.

Note to self, never depend on your clones for anything important to get done. They would wreck everything up in a heartbeat.

The fight was over, albeit with an anticlimactic end. The arguing clone somehow managed to persuade two others to give up as well, resulting in a surrender.

"Ah…time to meditate now I guess," Naruto issued to the remaining clones.

Naruto crossed his knees as he sat down, keeping his hands on his knees with his palms up and thumb connected with the pointer finger in a classic meditation pose that he saw some of the village monks using. He took a deep breath and tried to stay as still as possible while starting to push his chakra into the air.

Breathe. Take it slow.

He closed his eyes, enveloping his sight with darkness.

I can do this.

A bee buzzed near his right ear.

I can't do this.

Naruto shook his head in a vain attempt to drive the insect away. He waited for a brief second before trying once more.

He got about thirty seconds into the process before a butterfly landed on his nose, tempting him to itch his skin to drive it away. The evil beast teased him with small movements as it moved across the ridge of his nose, fluttering its wings every other second. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. He couldn't do it.

He opened his eyes once more as he looked around at his clones, who were clearly facing similar issues with a few exceptions.

Naruto took a deep breath.

This might take a while.

[-NTLS-]

[Ding!]

[New Skill Achieved: Meditation Lvl 1.]

Naruto, of course, couldn't see the notification. His eyes were closed, and his ears were hearing nothing. His mind was simply drifting within himself, wandering aimlessly in the system of his body without any clear goal.

It was like his brain was empty.

It took nearly forty minutes for him to reach this state. An awfully long time, but the moment he hit the 'zone', there was no going back. Five butterflies were latched into his blond hair. A small bird chirped happily into his ear and grabbed his shoulder harshly with its talons. However, the Jinchuuriki simply didn't care.

Poof!

Another clone disappeared from existence. This had been happening for a while as they all continued to surge chakra into the atmosphere. For a chakra sensor, the entire environment that Naruto and his clones housed was like a massive fever dream. It was simply the most saturated area of chakra ninety-nine percent of the shinobi population would ever see. Any sensor with a smidge of talent could sense this area of chakra from miles away.

I feel it.

Soon enough, the normal, calmer chakra ran out.

Instead, a rougher, thicker, and wilder energy was in his grasp. Naruto couldn't really see the color of the chakra, but his mind was yelling 'red' for no reason whatsoever other than a hunch. It just felt dangerous. So, Naruto being Naruto, threw caution out of the window—one that happened to be on a three-story building.

Suddenly, he felt his vision blur.

Darkness.

The scene unfurled before him with an overwhelming sense of foreboding. The air was heavy, damp, and suffused with an unearthly red glow that seemed to emanate from nowhere and everywhere at once. The entire space resembled the interior of a vast, dark sewer; walls lined with cold, wet stone were streaked with rivulets of water that echoed softly as they dripped into shallow pools on the floor. The scent of ancient water and something metallic lingered in the stale atmosphere, seeping into his senses.

The ceiling stretches high above, lost in shadow, and the passageways are dimly lit by flickering, spectral light that dances along the stone walls, casting long, wavering shadows. The ground beneath Naruto's feet felt uneven and cold, with shallow, ankle-deep water that reflected the crimson hues in distorted patterns.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Ahead of him loomed an immense iron gate, bound tightly by a seal inscribed with kanji, glowing a stark, brilliant white against the ominous red backdrop. The sheer height of the bars made him feel like an insect. A speck in front of the existence before him.

What could be behind those bars?

From beyond the gate came a deep, rumbling breath, heavy and rhythmic, each exhalation resonating through the walls and stirring the air with a growl that vibrated in Naruto's chest.

Then, within the darkness behind the gate, two colossal, slitted eyes snapped open—burning with a feral orange and pupils as thin and sharp as a blade. The gaze of the Nine-Tails felt like a living force, filled with an unfathomable mix of malice, cunning, and raw power. The creature's fur is a deep, fiery red, and its fangs gleamed under the dim light as it rose to its full, towering height, muscles coiled and ready beneath its coarse pelt.

The silence was broken only by the reverberating growl of the fox, its voice a chorus of snarls and a deep, resonant tone that makes the very walls seem to quake. Naruto stood there, eyes wide, heart hammering in his chest, surrounded by the cacophony of dripping water and the intimidating presence of the beast imprisoned within him.

Fear.

Despair.

Rage.

The presence of the Nine-Tails stirred negativity in his mind, almost as if the beast was a beacon for those emotions. He closed his eyes before pushing those feelings down.

Observe.

Name: Kurama

Title: Nine-Tailed Fox

Occupation: N/A

Level: ?

HP: ?

MP: ?

Chakra: ?

STR: ?

VIT: ?

DEX: ?

INT: ?

WIS: ?

LUK: ?

Naruto's eyes widened. "Kurama?"

There was a brief silence.

The fox's eyes widened even further. "What did you just say?"

[end]

YO!

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Dun dun dunnn….

Of course, Naruto said that out loud. What else can you expect from our favorite knucklehead?

Everyone's opinions about Obito pretty much encapsulated what I thought about him too. An unfortunate character in unfortunate situations.

Onto the QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What is your opinion on Tobirama Senju? This will be the last of the questions focused on specific characters, so make sure to make your opinion known!

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